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Trends in fossil fuel extraction: Implications for a shared effort to align global fossil fuel production with climate limits

This paper looks at the implications for a shared effort to align global fossil fuel production with climate limits. Based on current economic trends and without new policy interventions, the projected “baseline” trajectories of global fossil fuel production are vastly divergent from those that would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C and well below 2°C. This discrepancy necessitates the alignment of future production with pathways consistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals, and calls into question how countries might cooperate to manage such a decline.